The Growth in Giving Shows Confidence in Charities Is High

To the Editor:

Newspaper reports of surveys showing a decline in confidence in nonprofits occur with depressing frequency (“Public Confidence in Nonprofit Groups Slides Back, New Survey Finds,” April 3).

While I am sure that the articles by The Chronicle and others report the survey results with accuracy, the articles never seem to address key information that I believe paints a different picture.

As readers of The Chronicle know, the press regularly reports misdeeds by nonprofits and only occasionally reports the vastly greater number of good deeds by nonprofits. As a top reporter for The New York Times said at a workshop I attended some years ago: “‘Nonprofit does its job’ is not a news story.”

However, the statistics on giving to nonprofits are vastly more cheering than the articles reporting “slides” in public confidence in nonprofits. Virtually year after year, at least since 9/11, giving to nonprofits has increased. A large number of very wealthy individuals, many of whom are very smart individuals, have made enormous gifts to the nonprofit sector.

Why are contributions growing if confidence in the sector is so low?

The answer, I think, is simple: When surveyed about their confidence in the sector as a whole, people reflect the negative stories about the sector that they read in the newspapers or online. But when they go to make gifts, they focus on the wonderful work done by the nonprofits that they know and love.

So, viewed in this light, confidence in the nonprofits that people know and love seems to be extremely high, or else those nonprofits would not be attracting the contributions they are attracting.

Jonathan A. Small
Consultant for Government Relations
Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York
NewYork